I love it when Amanda just tells me how she is really feeling. She doesn't always do this right away, she ponders things and then talks to us. It makes me so happy when she shares her thoughts and feelings because she trusts us and knows she can be herself at home in her little haven. I pray this continues as we navigate through those teen years one day!
We were on our way to see our friend who just had a baby! We wanted to serve this family with a meal and some treats for the other children. Amanda wanted to help serve and since she can't cook all by herself, I told her she could make treat bags and decorate them. She was thrilled to do this and decorated them so beautifully with stickers. I told her she could decorate with any of the stickers and keep the ones she wanted for herself. I was thrilled to see the finished projects where she had taken her favorite princess stickers to decorate the bags and didn't keep them for herself.
While we were driving there Amelia started to cry and Amanda said, "I don't mean this bad and I don't mean this rude, but it was a whole lot easier to do stuff with just one of us!" I validated her feelings and told her I understood what she was saying. She said, "I mean, I love Amelia and she's my playmate!" We had a sweet, grown up girl talk moment!
I am so thankful for a daughter who loves to serve others and hope this continues. I am also thankful for a daughter who is open and honest, and willing to be vulnerable by sharing her feelings. This is something she will need her whole life. I want to raise a girl who isn't afraid to be herself and has enough confidence in herself to not feel the need to have to "fit in" or be just like the other girls, she can be different and totally real and not give a flying flip about what the other girls think and say behind her back. Unfortunately, this will not end in the teen years, I am afraid she will have to deal with that all throughout adulthood.
